Insider Brief
- BNVT Capital launched its debut $150M fund to back AI-first and tech-driven companies addressing major global challenges, seeded by Sackville Capital and already investing in 11 startups across Europe and the U.S. alongside firms like TPG and Iconiq.
- The firm’s thesis, based on a Harvard/MIT/Oxford-backed study of 500+ VC funds and 14,000 companies, shows that ventures tackling big problems deliver 51% higher returns, framing “Benevolent Disruption” as both a moral and financial opportunity.
- Founded by Rory Mounsey-Heysham, Chris Corbishley, and Nasir Alsharif, BNVT has attracted support from leaders at Shopify, Google, Octopus Energy, and Starwood Capital, with plans to scale its portfolio to 25–30 companies globally within two years.
PRESS RELEASE — BNVT Capital announced the launch of its debut $150M fund to invest in AI-first and technology-driven companies solving humanity’s most pressing challenges.
BNVT’s approach is built on a groundbreaking study, “Benevolent Disruption: The Fortune in Solving the World’s Biggest Problems”, co-authored with Professor Josh Lerner of Harvard Business School and VenCap International PLC (a large VC allocator) and academics at MIT and Oxford University. Drawing on proprietary data on 500+ VC funds and 14,000 companies, over the last 40 years, the study unveils an enormous, and hitherto undiscovered, source of investment value: just 30% of venture-backed companies tackle big problems and these have historically delivered 51% higher returns compared to their peers.
BNVT Capital was founded by Managing Partners Rory Mounsey-Heysham (ex-Gates Foundation), Chris Corbishley (ex-Hedosophia) and General Partner Nasir Alsharif (Executive Chairman of Sackville Capital, ex-Goldman Sachs and Investcorp) and is seeded by Sackville Capital, a global investment firm based in London. Sackville Capital have a strategic focus on building partnerships with new and emerging investment businesses, bringing strategic and operational expertise alongside a strong network of international partners, to create tangible value. The fund has already invested in 11 companies across Europe and the US, including Swap Commerce (UK), Cloover (Germany), and Dawnguard (Netherlands), co-investing alongside global firms such as TPG, Iconiq, Lowercarbon, and QED.
Rory Mounsey-Heysham said: “LPs and entrepreneurs are crying out for investors who see the world’s biggest challenges not as a moral quandary, but as vast untapped markets. A big problem is simply a big market waiting to be served.”
Nasir Alsharif added: “I am hugely excited by the opportunity set that BNVT Capital have identified. This is truly a differentiated investment thesis — backed up by extraordinarily real-world data. The countercyclical nature of the thesis — creating outsized returns from solving the biggest problems — is applicable across multiple sectors, and is particularly exciting.”
The funds origins came from Rory seeing the outsized returns Bill Gates was generating from investing in solutions to global problems, and then Chris seeing the same pattern play out in his own portfolio at Hedosophia. This new fund and investment concept comes at an interesting time when politicians and the investor community alike are at war as to the role of business in society. BNVT Capital position their thesis as a ‘third way’ between the ESG antithesis and unfettered capitalism.
Chris Corbishley said: “Investors have missed a striking pattern in their own data. For too long, investors have been backing fads, not needs — distracted by incremental technologies making life marginally faster, cheaper, or easier. Venture capital is about swinging for the fences — backing solutions that can reshape society for the better. That is what Benevolent Disruption is about.”
The fund’s thesis has attracted support from leading entrepreneurs and investors, including founders and leaders at Shopify, Google, Octopus Energy, Remitly, and institutional support from Starwood Capital, Investcorp, TPG, and others.
Sam Atkinson, Founder of Swap Commerce, said: “BNVT has been pivotal in rapidly scaling Swap through strategic capital and deep expertise. Their global industry insights have directly shaped our growth strategy and product evolution.”
Jodok Betschart, Founder of Cloover, said: “BNVT has been a fundamental partner in accelerating Cloover’s growth, unlocking over $100M in funding capacity and connecting us with world-class climate investors. Their deep expertise in climate tech has been instrumental.”
Barry Sternlicht, CEO of Starwood Capital, added: “The greatest economic value comes from investing in mission-driven brands that don’t just follow the market — they redefine it.”
Professor Josh Lerner of Harvard Business School comments in his Foreword that: “For investors willing to take the sorts of calculated risks that characterized the early VC industry, some of the most difficult problems facing society today may also present some of the greatest investment opportunities. Adopting new approaches for thinking about VC investment — for instance, by recognizing that outsized financial returns can be produced while solving big issues at scale — could be integral to the next wave of innovation.”
BNVT Capital is launching the Benevolent Disruption platform and community (https://www.benevolentdisruptors.com). BNVT Capital plans to expand its portfolio to 25–30 companies globally in the coming 2 years, continuing to prove that solving the world’s biggest problems provides one of the most lucrative opportunities in venture investing.
About BNVT Capital
BNVT Capital is a global venture capital firm, launched by investors previously at the Gates Foundation, Hedosophia and Goldman Sachs. With a presence in London, New York, and Riyadh, the global investment team is guided by the principle of Benevolent Disruption, a simple idea backed by proprietary returns data, that solving Big Problems is Big Business. Bnvtcapital.com
CONTACT: For further information please contact the BNVT Capital press office on: [email protected]
Featured image: Credit: BNVT managing partners: Chris Corbishley and Rory Mounsey Heysham.
